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"There's been this misconception with these canoes, this isn't a kutenai canoe it's a sinixt canoe, the Ktunaxa people learned the design when sinixt peoples began to marry and adopt ktunaxa families, several hundred years ago."

Sinixt Culture

sngaytskstx (Sinixt) have been identified differently by various people throughout the centuries (e.g., Lakes Indians, or Sin-Aikst) and this has contributed much confusion surrounding the history of Sinixt people in their traditional territory. Ethnographic records show several spellings of the word ‘sngaytskstx’ as past explorers and others, largely unfamiliar with the traditional language, attempted to transcribe it. The fur traders in British Columbia invented their own name for sngaytskstx, Lakes Indians, which is a direct reference to the heart of our traditional territory (Arrow Lakes Region, B.C.) and the waterways on which we travelled. Classified as part of the Plateau Culture Area, our people’s culture dates back 11,000 years ago and self-identification was interwoven with the local environment. In turn, our people have literally shaped the landscape for thousands of years through our traditional practices.